In the Shadow of the Dog attempts to capture the inversions of social values held by three different generations. In the Mahabharata, a dog follows Yudhishtira till the end in the Swargarohana Parva (the chapter on 'Path to Heaven'). The film's title refers to the dog symbolically representing an individual's good and bad deeds. Achchannaih and his wife live with their widowed daughter-in-law Venkatalaxmi and grand-daughter Rajalaxmi in a traditional society. Achchannaiah sets out to discover the truth when news reaches him that in a distant town, his son - who had died eighteen years ago - was reborn. He brings the young man home, setting in motion a chain of events that alter the lives of those around him.